Abstract
The ‘sociological imagination’ – the recognition of the relationship between ‘private troubles’ and ‘public issues’ (Mills [1959] 2000. The Sociological Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 8) – is central to the discipline of sociology. This article reports findings of a 2014 study which investigated students’ views on whether the development of the sociological imagination could be more explicitly embedded in a module on Race and Racisms through an (auto)biographical approach from teachers and the module’s racially diverse students. After reviewing benefits and challenges to an (auto)biographical approach, the article presents findings from a student focus group, concluding that students would welcome (auto)biographical approaches to the topic of race and racism, with the caveat that this is handled sensitively with steps taken to minimise the risk of emotional harm.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 867-878 |
Journal | Teaching in Higher Education |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 7 |
Early online date | 28 Apr 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 3 Oct 2017 |
Bibliographical note
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Teaching in Higher Education on 28/4/17, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13562517.2017.1319807Keywords
- autobiography
- biography
- race
- sensitive issues