Fighting the Fascists: What Can Sociology Teach Our Students?

Abstract

This essay began as a keynote I delivered at a sociology teaching conference in the summer of 2023. It focuses on my experiences of right-wing harassment and as both a scholar and teacher working in Florida under recent legislation that targets various foundational sociology concepts and challenges various inclusion practices on college campuses. I offer an assessment of these attacks on our academic freedoms and lay out three skills that sociology specifically can provide students as they navigate learning in environments like Florida.