Society Mattars: Teaching Neoliberalism in Qatar

• In Event: 2222 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 06. Teaching Sociology in the Age of Trump

Abstract

This paper discusses how I approached teaching limitations in the belief in individualism as a way to develop critical perspective about neoliberalism, the dominant ideology of contemporary globalization. While most sociologists focus on sociological imagination in their introductory sociology classes, they rarely emphasize neoliberalism. I designed my introductory sociology syllabi including specific readings and documentaries in discussions on stratification, race, gender, education, and deviance and social control as well as a field observation assignment to demonstrate to my students how social constraints affect individual’s achievements and life experiences. To assess the effectiveness of my teaching in developing students’ critical perspective about neoliberalism, I asked them to write brief notes in the first and last class of the semester on how they define success and how they would approach success. I found substantial differences in their perspective: while all students expressed a uniform belief in individualism at the beginning of the semester, most of them shared quite critical perspective about success and discussed how their individual success would be shaped by the society the live in and through.

My paper begins with a brief mention of the need to incorporate neoliberalism in introductory sociology class, followed by a review of available active learning approached to teach introductory sociology (primarily based on the 'Teaching Sociology' journal). Then, it introduces my students and the print and digital materials I included in my course syllabi and how I taught those. Finally, it discusses the two writing assignments my students submitted to discuss changes in their belief in the neoliberal idea of individualism and its implication for developing sociological imagination. It concludes by recognizing the strengths and limitations in my approach. While I taught in an international setting outside of the US, I believe my approach will benefit teaching sociology in the US, too.

Author

• Hasan Mahmud, Northwestern University in Qatar