We always seem to hear what “the sociologists” are doing or saying, how they’re analyzing the latest “new fad” or trying to tackle age old problems and find a solution once and for all. The difficulties with sociology is that it’s about… well… humans. And humans, as we know, are variable creatures that have hundreds, if not thousands, of influences and factors that dictate how they behave. And of course, psychology shouldn’t be overlooked either, as it does give insight to how individual humans tick. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today.

Today I’m here to discuss public sociology, what it is, and how our intro sociology class made a small-scale attempt at replicating this subject. To start off, if sociology is more or less the study of how humans are influenced by human-formed groups (race, gender, social class, media, family, religion, medicine, sports, government, economy… I could go on and on) then public sociology must be the study of this in the context of the public sphere. So what does that look like in specific terms, rather than abstract ones? Well, I can hardly imagine a better example than one that is dividing the nation right now: same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting.

I should be quick to note that just because an issue is talked about nationally, does NOT make it inherently public sociology. So just because same-sex marriage is a contentious issue presently, does not make it public sociology. Public sociology is not assigned to various topics (some get it and some don’t) it’s applied more specifically to the type of research and the intent of that research of any given societal issue. I point to same-sex parenting specifically, because there is a lot of interest currently as to the scientific findings of whether or not same-sex couples can be as reliable and successful as parents that heterosexual couples can be. Some of this research is being conducted specifically to forward the activist cause of equal rights/gay pride. It is the fact that this research is not just being written for academia to be put into a dusty volume and forgotten about, but thrust into the public sphere to attempt to influence public opinion.

So, the question is then, what does our class have to do with this? Well, for the month of November, we broke up into groups and each group conducted a project, with the intent of it being a public sociology project. My group created a magazine that covered the issue of gender. We attempted to convey the tone of such a magazine as realistically as possible, including components such as the Letter from the Editors addressing the selection of this specific topic: gender. Now that the magazine has been put together, it is time to share it, and make it from an academia project to a public one.

Sociology 101

Until Next Time,

Joe