Teaching

Philosophy

My approach to teaching is premised on an understanding that students come to my classes from a variety of different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and that their social locations have a demonstrable effect on their relative likelihoods of accepting sociological insights. I hope to encourage students to critically engage with both course material and their past experiences, decrease the likelihood of recalcitrant students’ rejecting sociology due to confirmation bias, and nudge them toward extending the material they encounter in my courses to other disciplines, such as philosophy, public policy and administration, religious studies, criminology, and political science. It is important to me that my students leave my class with an understanding of sociology’s core concepts and the role sociological research plays in the production of knowledge, but also that they also be able to apply these ideas to the world around them. My main teaching goal is helping students develop critical thinking skills through a dialogical process in which they are challenged to question their taken-for-granted assumptions about the world around them.

Courses

Religion and Society

Sociologists’ interest in religion is driven by the desire to better understand the ways that different groups’ use of symbols, rituals, religious practices, and beliefs shape their lives and the lives of people around them. This course will introduce students to dominant schools of thought in the sociology of religion, with a focus on the positive and negative consequences of religious engagement in modern societies. Following a survey of sociological theories of religious emergence, structure, and participation, we will explore the relationship between religion and society, with a special emphasis on the intersection of religion and politics in the United States since 1950. Through reading sociological theory and research, discussing and debating current events, and researching the Supreme Court’s influence on religious practice in the United States, students will come to a better understanding of the role that religion plays in modern America, along with the often contentious debates that it engenders among American citizens.

Sociology of Sport

Love them or hate them, sports inspire strong feelings in most people. Often, though, we don’t think much about sports beyond points and fouls or wins and losses. In looking beyond the scoreboard, we can learn a lot about sports themselves, but also the larger ways that they shape society. In this course, we will use a sociological framework to examine sports as a social problem. By looking at sports from a critical perspective, we will explore the different ways that sports affect the lives of players, fans, people disinterested in sports, and social institutions that, at first glance, have nothing to do with sports. Through a number of different theoretical perspectives, we will explore the role that sports play in socializing young people, the ways that people choose to identify with different groups, and other aspects of social psychology. In approaching sports both historically and against a modern backdrop, we will discuss the ways that sports came to occupy a central place in American society and investigate the different ways that sports have been used to both challenge and reinforce social differences based on race, gender, sexuality, social class, deviance, education, and power. Finally, we will take a look at the consequences of the business side of sports, helping us understand the ways that collegiate and professional sports operate not just as forms of entertainment, but also as multi-billion dollar industries.

Mental Illness

Americans have a particular fascination with mental illness, but often discuss it exclusively at the individual level. In SOC 324, we will explore mental illness as a social phenomenon from the sociological perspective. We will discuss the definitions of what constitutes mental illness, where those definitions come from, and how they differ based on time and place. We will consider the ways in which members of different communities are more or less likely to be identified as mentally ill, seek and/or receive treatment, and experience social stigma and other consequences of mental illness. This course will also address the degrees to which policy interventions have alleviated and/or exacerbated some of the social costs of mental illness, as well as the ways that mental illness and the mentally ill are portrayed in policy and popular culture. In short, we will address mental illness not just as an individual issue, but as a social one.

Introduction to Sociology

The goal of this course is to provide students with a background in the fundamentals of sociology and the tools necessary to critically assess different aspects of society. Students will develop and use critical thinking skills to explore issues related to politics, religion, power, race, class, gender, sexuality, and other major social forces. In addition to learning about these topics through classical sociological theories and current research, students will discuss these issues in the context of current events, films, television shows, music, and literature.

The Teaching of Undergraduate Sociology (co-taught; graduate-level class)

This class introduces first-time instructors to the basic methods of effective teaching. Recognizing that teaching is both an art and a science, we will consider various ways to design courses that create “natural learning environments” (Bain, 2004). Topics cover common teaching methods with a focus on what the best college teachers know: how to make lectures interesting, how to ask questions that engage students in lively discussions, and how to foster student-centered learning. Like us, these teachers give much thought to what motivates their students. And, therefore, a large part of the semester will address this issue. The course also covers the routine tasks of instructors – designing exams, test-item analysis, grading, office hours, and students’ rights and responsibilities. Establishing rapport with students is a key to successful teaching and these routine elements make a difference.

This class is designed to give you a chance to practice what you learn. Our meetings will, therefore, begin with a short lecture followed by an activity that requires you to do something. Once you have completed the task, we will take some time to discuss what was learned through your hands-on experience. You will also have an opportunity to discuss any issues or problems that arise in your own class. To meet this need, a block of time will be reserved at the end of every class meeting for any matters you wish to discuss, whether or not they are related to the topic of the week.