The discipline of sociology is complex and complicated, a “both/and” which offers opportunities and risks, insights and challenges. In today’s complex and complicated societies, where individual analysis is often mistakenly seen as sufficient, sociological research and thinking is more necessary than ever. This talk examines three dimensions of “both/and” and makes the case for renewed efforts to promote our sociological knowledge for the collective good and shape the future of this amazing enterprise.

Diane Pike is Professor of Sociology emeritus at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. Her areas of focus and professional activity continue in organizational theory, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and faculty development. Her long history with MSS includes President (2011), State Director, recipient of the MSS Presidential Award for Service, and leadership on multiple committees over 3 decades. At ASA, Diane was lead author of the collaborative report, The Sociology Major in the Changing Landscape of Higher Education (2017). A long-time Program Reviewer and Consultant, she currently serves as a member of the ASA Retirement Network Advisory Board and as a reviewer for Teaching Sociology. Winner of the 2012 ASA major award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Learning, she was the inaugural editor of ASA’s TRAILS. Diane remains very grateful to be a sociologist. 

Sociology today faces three interconnected crises. The first is an institutional crisis rooted in the shifting landscape of higher education. After the significant expansion of public institutions in the mid-to-late 20^th century, decades of austerity have eroded the financial stability of many public institutions while many private colleges grapple with declining enrollments. In this precarious climate, sociology programs are often the first on the chopping block. The second is a political crisis with two key dimensions: the enduring tension within the discipline between sociology as activism vs sociology as science, and the increasing politicization of sociology as a target in the conservative backlash against DEI. Lastly, the discipline is contenting with a pedagogical crisis shaped by a combination of disruptive forces, including the rise of AI, evolving post-COVID student expectations, and growing resistance to student-centered approaches to teaching. 

These crises call for a critical examination of sociology in contemporary higher education and society. How should we navigate the tensions within the discipline while addressing the pressures from without? Above all, what does it mean to teach sociology as a vocation in these unsettled times?

Michel Estefan is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. His teaching and writing combine philosophical humanism, sociological theory, and the scholarship of teaching and learning to produce systematic frameworks for critically understanding and addressing some of the most daunting challenges facing instructors and students in today’s higher education landscape. His published work has appeared in Teaching Sociology, Sociological Focus, TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology, First Publics,Inside Higher Ed, and Teaching/Learning Matters, and has been featured multiple times in The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has trained close to 2,000 graduate students, faculty, lecturers and postdocs across the University of California and California State University systems on various aspects of teaching and pedagogy. His teaching and mentoring have been recognized with awards from the University of California, San Diego, the University of California, Berkeley, SAGE publishing, and the Teaching and Learning Section of the American Sociological Association.

Stefan Timmermans is professor of sociology at UCLA. His research interests include medical sociology and science studies. He has conducted research on medical technologies, health professions, death and dying, and population health. He is the author, most recently, of Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths (Chicago, 2006), Saving Babies? The Consequences of Newborn Genetic Screening (Chicago 2013, with Mara Buchbinder), Abductive Analysis: Theorizing Qualitative Research (Chicago 2014, with Iddo Tavory), and Data Analysis in Qualitative Research: Theorizing with Abductive Analysis (Chicago 2022, with Iddo Tavory). He is also senior editor medical sociology for the journal Social Science and Medicine, editor-in-chief for Social Science and Medicine: Qualitative Research in Health, and book series editor for the University of Chicago series on Ethnographic Encounters and Discoveries.