Teaching Sociology: The Precariousness of Academic Freedom

Orr, Amy J.

doi:10.1177/0731121418814597

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…However, for scientific and sociological reflexivity to be exercised, it is necessary, on the one hand, for scientists to have conditions such as the existence of respect for academic freedom (Orr, 2018). Furthermore, social scientists need to demonstrate that they have digital literacy competencies.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociology and Digital Culture

Ferreira¹

2019

IJSSS

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The society increasingly based on digital culture is already an unavoidable reality. This paper aims to contribute, in a preliminary way, to understand several of the implications in Sociology that this propagation of digital culture involves through a bibliographical review. We analyse several implications in dimensions such as the very purpose of Sociology (highlighting digital literacy and the level of democracy) and social research (addressing issues raised by the big date, the interdisciplinary dialogue between Sociology and other scientific areas, and new ethical dilemmas). We conclude that there are profound implications both in the research object and in the research processes of Sociology, which we will develop in later phases of the dissemination of this research. As a major implication, the reflective capacity of sociological knowledge is central to the preparation for this new reality, but, at the same time, also to a well-founded critical understanding of digital society.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociology and Digital Culture

Ferreira¹

2019

IJSSS

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“…Meanwhile, under the guise of "efficiency," disciplines that challenge the status quo and question the logic of profitable higher education are being downsized and even completely eliminated nationally in public universities (Rybak 2017;Fulford 2019). In an efficiency-driven environment such as this one, whatever tenuous meaning was associated with "academic freedom" is further reduced by the constant threat of program or position elimination (Orr 2019).…”

Section: Intersectionality and Critical Pedagogymentioning

confidence: 99%

How the “neutral” university makes critical feminist pedagogy impossible: intersectional analysis from marginalized faculty on three campuses

Busse

Krausch²,

Liao

2020

Sociological Spectrum

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While critical pedagogy emphasizes the marginalized status of the learner, feminist pedagogy challenges the presumption of a one-dimensional power dynamic in the classroom by illuminating the intersecting axes of power along which everyone in a learning community, including the pedagog, can simultaneously enjoy privileges and experience marginalization. Yet there has been little empirical intersectional research on how the university as an institution interferes with critical and feminist teaching. Extending Torres's intersectional theorization of critical pedagogy and building on sociological research on workplace inequality, we investigate the role of the neoliberal university in facilitating/obstructing feminist critical teaching. We conducted ethnography on three campuses across two countries, the United States and Peru. While we expected that our unconventional teaching methods combined with our foreignness, womanhood, and queerness would invite resistance from students, we found that the messages sent by the race-and gender-neutral neoliberal university were at the root of the illegibility of our teaching and our intellectual existence. We argue that the neoliberal university as it exists is antithetical to critical pedagogy in general, and feminist teaching in particular, attesting to the urgency of returning critical pedagogy to its roots in political organizing beyond formal education. Contemporary calls for increased funding for education instead of policing is just one example of how many people look toward education, including higher education, to change minds and drive fundamental social change. Critical pedagogy indeed provides theoretical and practical models for using education as a tool for human liberation but it must be rooted in political organizing. In this paper, we analyze the role of the university in facilitating/obstructing feminist critical teaching, using data collected from three campuses across two countries, the United States and Peru. We argue that the neoliberal university as it exists is antithetical to critical pedagogy in general, and feminist teaching in particular. Our teaching and research are grounded in a long tradition of liberatory education that goes back to sociology's founding father DuBois, who argued forcefully that education represents a path of freedom for marginalized people (1932). DuBois, along with bell hooks (1994) and Paolo Freire (1970), inspired generations of sociologists who wanted to teach and work toward freedom. The message that teaching about social problems must be tied to the learners' personal experiences speaks directly to the cultivation of sociological imagination (Mills [1959] 2000).

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“…Instrumentalization, neoliberal assaults on academic disciplines, contingency, and political intolerance were already affecting higher education (as were many of the other threats that were noted in my address). However, as I noted a year ago, “as time passes, I worry that academic freedom becomes increasingly precarious” (Orr 2019:7). Millennials have never been spared these threats, and, during their time in higher education, have watched them grow stronger.…”

Section: Amy J Orr: Looking Ahead—the Psa Millennials and Threats mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This, coupled with the increasing concerns of parents and students about future job prospects, and administrative concerns about the bottom line, can spell trouble for those millennials in academia. As I noted last year, sociology has long struggled with a “relevancy” problem (Orr 2019).…”

Section: Amy J Orr: Looking Ahead—the Psa Millennials and Threats mentioning

confidence: 99%

Celebrating PSA 90 Years: Presenting the Past and Present to Address the Challenges Facing Millennials in the Future

Davis

Dorn

Orr

2020

Sociological Perspectives

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Since its founding in 1929, the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) has undergone a variety of changes as it has adapted to shifts in society, developments in the discipline, and an increasingly diverse membership. The panelists in this session highlighted several ways in which the PSA has evolved over time and discussed a number of attempts to address the challenges facing millennials and millennial sociologists (the theme of the 90th Annual Meeting). Suggestions regarding ways in which the PSA can continue to offer support to this generation in the future were also discussed.

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Teaching Sociology: The Precariousness of Academic Freedom

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

Sociology and Digital Culture

Sociology and Digital Culture

How the “neutral” university makes critical feminist pedagogy impossible: intersectional analysis from marginalized faculty on three campuses

Celebrating PSA 90 Years: Presenting the Past and Present to Address the Challenges Facing Millennials in the Future

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