Florida s Shunning of Sociology Should Be a Wake-Up Call – WSJ

The Sunshine State is giving sociology the cold shoulder. The Florida Board of Governors Academic and Student Affairs Committee on Nov. 9 voted to remove Principles of Sociology from the list of courses the state s public-college students can take to fulfill their general-education requirements. Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. introduced the proposal. Like Gov. Ron DeSantis, Mr. Diaz is a conservative politician concerned about left-wing bias in higher education. The board will take a final vote in January.

The American Sociological Association strongly objects. But as a sociology professor with extensive experience teaching general-education courses, I sympathize with the decision.

I have taught undergraduate sociology courses since 1996. Through the decades, I have watched my discipline morph from a scientific study of social reality into academic advocacy for left-wing causes. Dozens of my fellow sociologists have also observed the transformation, including Christian Smith of Notre Dame, whose book The Sacred Project of American Sociology (2014) provides a brutally honest account of our troubled discipline.

Mr. Smith is disappointed that undergraduate sociology textbooks, rather than disseminate scientific findings, function as recruiting tools and re-socialization manuals to turn students into radical activists. He is equally disappointed with the discipline s failure to come clean about its obvious political commitments. Publicly, the American Sociological Association describes sociology as a scientific study of social life interested in the causes and consequences of human behavior. Internally, ASA embraces and promotes social-change activism.

via www.wsj.com

Sociology could be, should be such an interesting field. Max Weber was a sociologist, for goodness sake! Instead, it has come to this.