Imagine this (no pun intended): You’re at a coffee shop and there’s a group of loud people sitting near the entrance.
Initially, you think that they’re obnoxious and should take their loud conversation elsewhere, such as their home.
But then you wonder why these people are being so loud.
These types of questions are what sociologist C. Wright Mills calls the sociological imagination.
It can help you be more empathetic.
I scrambled through the course listing to find a last-minute option.
The only available courses for me were an intro sociology class and an intro psychology class, which I had already taken.
“Guess I’m taking sociology,” I thought to myself. “But what is it?”
The course description said:
“Sociology is the study of social life in all its forms. A variety of topics within the discipline will be explored throughout this course, such as social theory, social research methods, culture, with a strong focus on gender, sexuality, class, and racial inequality.”
It sounded interesting enough and I didn’t expect to get much out of it other than the credits.