Toward Publicly Responsive Sociology Curricula: The Role of Introductory Sociology

Introductory sociology casts a wide net with regard to its audience and plays an important role in capturing the public eye as well as helping students to make more informed choices in their lives and communities. I ask six questions that help us as sociologists to think about how introductory sociology can better serve our discipline, our students, and their communities. These questions ask us to consider who our students are, how the course fits with university mission and program goals, what we want students to learn in this course and how we can build consensus about that common core, the extent to which there is alignment between learning objectives and our disciplinary standards in sociology, how assessment can be used to improve course design and curriculum in general, and the role that introductory sociology plays in recruitment and retention of students to the university and to the major. Posing such questions will promote further discussion and consensus building among sociology colleagues with the aim of improving curriculum and student learning.