Teaching Sociology through Banned and Challenged Books

• In Event: 20461 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 9: Engaged Pedagogy

Abstract

This presentation focuses on teaching an introductory level sociology course through the use of banned or challenged books as students’ primary reading assignments. Four sections of Sociology 101: Principles of Sociology have been taught using this approach at a private, mid-sized university in the Midwest. Books are selected from the American Library Association’s list of banned and challenged books. Each student is assigned one book to read, with a course of thirty students covering seven different books. Students complete a variety of individual and group-based assignments throughout the semester; through the group presentations, students share how social inequalities manifested through the main character’s experience, and how that inequality operated at institutional, interpersonal, and internalized levels. They also identify one key issue in the book and provide an overview of that issue today; examples of topics covered include anti-Black policing, young women who are Black and missing, sexual assault of women, bullying of LGBTQ+ youth, and contemporary experiences of Native Americans on reservation lands. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with students saying they actually enjoyed reading the book and that they developed empathy for their main character. Related to course learning objectives, most students can demonstrate understandings of social inequalities, the sociological imagination, and the social construction of reality by the end of the semester. This presentation will be useful to audience members because it shares ideas and concrete steps for an innovative approach to teaching introductory level sociology courses. I acknowledge I have a great deal of privilege that contributes to my ability to teach this class in this way; for starters, I am a full professor with tenure, at a private institution. Nonetheless, I have been pleasantly surprised by student engagement, learning, and feedback, and would welcome the opportunity to share with others.

Author

• Jeanne Holcomb, University of Dayton