The Sociological Imagination: Five Minute Sociology!

The Sociological Imagination is a cornerstone of understanding how sociologists think but honestly most intro sociology classes and professors make it hard to apply the idea to your everyday life. Today, we're going to change that. We'll explain C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination, break it into smaller ideas (personal troubles & public issues; biography and history), then give a functional example of how the Sociological Imagination relates to your decision to go to college.

Terms:
Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills
Personal troubles
Public issues
History
Biography

Tee-shirt reference:

Picture credit:

chapter breakdown:
0:00 llama-side chat
0:25 defining the sociological imagination
1:12: Approach A: personal troubles and public issues
2:11 Approach B: biography and history
3:15 Example of SI: going to college
4:39 This is a great thought exercise

[chrisdanieleku]

This triggered a memory. I asked my father (who earned a masters in sociology and wrote a thesis on crim/organized crime) about why people commit crimes and what is the difference between sociology and psychology when it comes to thinking about crime. He gave me a lot of explanations I didn't understand (at about age 11) and then said something like- "When it comes right down to it, sociologists care about the external influences on the individual and how we might change those to prevent future crime and psychologists don't care nearly as much about the benefits social change might bring, but are more interested in these internal processes." It also brought back memories of my first (community) college class (sociology) from Dr. Nnamdi Anosike, who encouraged me to persist in college.Thank you for the triggers!

[melaninkwaks]

I go to school because I don't want to feel out with my friends. But my mom told me to find a job to support us. Because of financial problem.

[qtmich]

thank you very much it's very informative